Electrical switch.



A. J. BOWIE, JR.

'ELEGTRIGAL SWITCH.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 23, 1906.

1,1 10,374,. Patented Sept. 15,1914.

4 SHEETSSHEET l.

A. II. BOWIE, JR.

ELECTRICAL SWITCH. APPLICATION FILED JAN. 23, 1-906.

1,1 10,374. Patnted Sept. 15,1914.,

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2 A. J. BOWIE, IR.

ELECTRICAL SWITCH. APPLICATION FILED JAN. 23, 1906,

1,110,374 Patented Sept. 15, 1914.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

A. J. BOWIE, JR.

ELECTRICAL SWITCH. APPLIOATION I ILED JAN. 23, 1906.

1,1 1 0,374. Patentd Sept. 15, 1914.

4 SHEETS-SHEET A WITNESSES: INVENTOR;

camera.

a full, clear,

its contacts and effect 1.. 31s a, side elevat on.

currenv AUGUSTUS JESSE BOT/VIE, JR, 91 SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFOREIIA.

ELECTRICAL SVIITCH.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 15, 1914.

' Application filed January 23, 1906. Serial No. 297,433.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, AUoUsrUs J. Bow1E,

'Jr., a citizen of the United States, residing in San Francisco city and county, State of} California, have lnvented certain new and useful Improvements in Electrical Switches; and I do hereby declare the following to be and exact description of the in-j vention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to-which it appertains to make and use the same. i This invention relates of electric switches; The object of the invention isto provide a switch which shall'bedurable and shall promptly'and surely destroy arcs formed at a complete and perfect:

break in the circuit to be interrupted. 1 The invention can be best explained in;

. connection with the accompanyingdrawingsi in which,

Figure 1 is a plan View. Fig. 2 is we tical section on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1, looking-in the direction of the arrow. Fig;

'Fig. 4: is an enlarged? view of a'-deta1l.- Fig, 5'; 1s an enlarged viewl of a modified; det'a1l. F g.- 6 1s an'enlarged.

detail "view oftheswltch contacts and adj a-] cent parts w'th the switch in a partly opened position, and Fig. 7 is a plan view of the same arts. Re erring to the drawings, the switch is; mounted upon a suitable supporting frame which may consist of posts A, to which are secured the horizontal beams B. Upon the support is mounted the circuit interrupting apparatus which consists of a plurality of single pole switchesC, D and E, which may be so connected with. relation to each other as to form breaks in series or in parallel in the circuit to be interrupted or they may be connected in any other suitable or desirable. relation. The several single pole switches constituting the entire switch are similar in construction and therefore a description of one of them will apply to each,- except for a di-iierence to be hereinafter noted.

Each of the single pole switches comprises the blade 1 carried upon a support formed of the horizontaltube 2, to which are secured theupright tubes 3 and li The upright tubes attheir upper ends are fitted with petticoat insulators 5 and 6, to which the blade 1 is secured. The blade 1 whenn ovedinto its uppermost position engages with the clips 7 and. 8. Bars of angular crossfsection which have respectively the legs'yand 10, 11 and "-12, the legs of each bar=being at an angle with i their supports may be removed a consider able distance from the vertices and the short 1 est arcing distance between the bars be mat. to exist at the vertices. Secured to the switch blade 1 is an arc guide 19 which extends upwardly in proximity to the vertice of the bars comprising the horns. This gui dc should decrease in width upwardly, so that as it is moved downwardly its width at the portion crease, and the arcgap between the vertices will be increased as the switch is opened. Preferably the guide is arc-shaped as shown.

To prevent arcing at the main clips 7 and 8, auxiliary following contacts 20 and 21 carried by the springs 22 and 23are provided, which follow the switch blade in its downward movement for a certain distance, and art from contact therewith after the ing contacts may conveniently form electrical connection with the switch blade by -means of the lugse24 and 25 secured to the guide 19. The following contacts are located adjacent to the vertices of the bars comprising the arc-breaking horns. It is preferred that the bars comprising the horns be of iron or steel which by its peculiar magneticproperties aids in destroying the arcs. Other magnetic material than iron or steel might 1 be used.

The switch blade and its supporting means hereinbefore referred to are carried upon-the vertical bar 24', which is mounted to move vertically in the support or frame. The manner of mounting this bar in the frame is shown in detail in Fig. st, from which it will be seen that the hole in each bar of the frame through which the bar 2 passes is of such size aslto giv e liberal cleartime to the bar which is guided by a metal ness of structure may be obtained so that adjacent to the vertices of the horns will deblade has left the clips 7 and 8. The followthe tube 2 of each or bearings I ers 27, or more rd rock shaft 28 p y be attached a rope or ivenient height to guiding bars 31 and the frame.

It will be noticed on reference to Figs. I and 3 of the drawings, that the end pairs of are breaking horns diverge outwardly from the neighboring pair of horns. This has the elfect of more widely separating the upper ends of the different pairs of horns at which the arcs break, for a given sized frame, then would be the,case if the horns of a pair lay in the same plane throughout their lengths.

The operation of the apparatus is as follows. As seen in the drawings, the knife of the switch is shown as being out of contact with the main clips 7 and 8. Normally, however, the knife 1 will be in engagement with the clips 7 and 8. Assuming the latter to be the position of the switches, if it be desired to break the circuit the bars 24; are moved downwardly by one of the levers 27, which can be accomplished by moving the outer end of the lever upwardly. This results in drawing down the tube 2 and with it the knife 1 which thereupon leaves the clips 7 arid 8, breaking the circuit,at the clips. The circuit through the switch is, however, maintained by the contacts 20 and 21 which follow the movement of the knife and remain in contact with the lugs 24 and 25'for some time after the knife has leftrthe clips. Continued movement of the knife downwardl breaks the circuit through the switchat the lugs 24 and 25, at which the arcs will be formed. It will be observed that as the circuit is maintained through the follower contact when the knife leaves the main clips no arcing will occur at the clips.

'They will be thus freed from deterioration through the burning which would be caused if arcing occurred at those points. The circuit having been broken at the follower contacts if the downward movement of the knife be continued, thearcs at the contacts will complete the circuit through the arc guide 19, and will be seen that as this rising e "ical.

orns whi the s\ thron We clips. This poi; ".e movement of c sary to move it ier, as the 1g operation so far as it concerned, has been accomplished. 'llhe gases of the are established between the v :tices at the bases of the horns will tend to rise owin to their heated condition and the magnetic field set up by the current and the di erging lrorns will stretch the arc as it rises until it has maintain the circuit. remark As has before been where the breaking horns are of magnetic material, the magnetic properties aid in dissipating the gases constituting the arc and improve the operation of the device. The closing of the switch will involve operations opposite to those already described, as will be readily understood without further description.

In order to facilitate the breaking and to prevent the forming of unduly strong arcs, especially where currents of high volume or voltage are to be broken, it has been found advantageous to insert a resistance which may take the form of an inductance, as shown, if desired in the circuit formed between the following contacts, through which the current flows after the blade 1 has parted from the main contacts 7 and 8. This may be accomplished by a construction as shown in Fig. 5. This figure illustrates but one of the contacts of the switch, but as the other contact is precisely like it, the description of the construction in this figure will suffice for both. Referring to Fig. 5, the resistance R has one end connected with the main contact 8, while its other end is connected with the breaking horn 11. and the following contact 23, the following contact and the breaking horn being insulated from the stationary contact by insulation 33 and 3%. Otherwise the construction is the same as that shown in the remaining figures. It will be obvious that with the construction as shown in Fig. 5, the resistance R at each of the terminals of each of the single pole switches will be inserted in the circuit main .tained through the following contacts when the circuit through the main contacts is broken. This has the effect of cutting down the current passing through the following contacts and also-the voltage of the arc,

so that the completion of the break is accom'plished without" damage to the apparatus and in a prompt and efficient manner.

While the invention has been illustrated been. suiiiciently attenuated to no longer tacts, a blade-like conducting bridge extendinmate inwhat is considered its best application, it is to be understood that it may have other applications and be embodied in various structures. The invention should not there fore be limited'to the application or struc-- ture shown, but should be interpreted to in out of engagement, of a pair of diverging arc-breaking horns associated with said con ing between said horns and forming anupwardly extending gradually narrowing conducting path between them, and-mechanism for separating the bridge and the horns after the main contacts are opened, whereby upon the breaking of the circuit two arcs are formed between the bridge and the horns, and by the upward movement of the arcs and the downward movement of the bridge,- are finally merged into a single are which is carried up the horns and dlstended to break it; substantially as described.

2. The combination withfa switch comprising main contacts adapted'to be moved into and out of engagement, of a pair of diverging arc-breaking horns associated with said contacts, a gradually narrowing conducting bridge extending between said horns, following contacts adapted to maintain connection with the bridge until after the main contacts are opened, and meohae,

nism for withdrawing the bridge from between the horns, whereby the two arcs are formed at the following contacts and transferred to the horns and by the upward movement of the arcs and the downward movement of the bridge are finally merged into a single arc which is carried up the horns and distended to break it; substantially as described.

3. The combination with two diverging arc-breaking horns, of switch terminals near the basesof said horns, a bar adapted to engage with said. terminals and an arcs shaped guide mounted on said bar and extending between the bases of said horns into such relation thereto that as the bar and the horns are separated to break the circuit two substantially horizontal arcs are formed between the horns and the guide, and these arcs are finally merged into-afsingle are which is carried up the horns and distended to break it; substantially as described.

a. The combination with two diverging arc-breaking horns, of switch terminals near the bases of said horns, a bar adapted to engage with said terminals, a conducting guide mounted on said barand 'eXtending between the bases of said'hornsfsaid guide-decreasing in width as it leaves said bar, and following contacts adapted to maintain connectionwith' said guide until after the main l c'ontacts are opened, whereby the circuit is'bro'ken between the following contacts and theguide t o'form two arcs which by the upward movementof the arcs and the downward movement of the bridge are finally merged into a single are which is carried up the horns and distended to break it; sub- 'sta-ntially as described.

5. The combination with a switch having relatively movable contacts, of diverging arc-breaking horns formed of magnetic material; substantially as described.

6. The combination with a switch having relatively movable contacts, of diverging arc-breaking horns adj acent to said contacts and a bridge extending between the bases of the said horns, said switch comprlsing main contacts and flexible following contacts, the

main contacts being a greater distance apart then the nearest points of said horns, said following contacts being mounted to follow the circuit opening movement of the bridge and maintain contact therewith until after the main contacts are open and then to transfer the arc to said horns; substantially as described I 7. A circuit interrupting devicepcomprising a plurality of switches and a plurality of pairs of diverging arc-breaking horns adapted to receive arcs from said switches, the horns of a pair diverging upwardly from each other and the pairs diverging outwardly from each other; substantially as described.

8. The combination with two diverging arc-breaking horns, j of switch terminals near. the bases of said horns, a contact member .adaptedto engage with said terminals,

a guide mounted-on said contact member and extending between the bases of Sitld horns, following contacts mounted near the vertices of said horns, and adapted to engage the guide during its initial movement, and a conductor connecting ,the main contacts with the following contacts and horns, said conductor including a resistance, whereby when the main contacts are open the current is diverted through the resistance to the following contacts and horns; substantially as described.

9. In an electric switch, a pair of contacts and a pair of arc-disrupting horns adapted to receive and distend the arc formed when said contacts are opened to disrupt it, in combination with a combined circuit-closing member and are guide co1nprising a circuit-cl0sing blade arranged to bridge the contacts to close the circuit and an arc guide carried by the blade and actuated upon the circuit-opening movement thereof to guide the arc across the gap between the arc-disrupting horns and transfer it thereto; substantially as described.

10. In an electric switch, a pair of contacts and a pair of arc-disrupting horns adapted to receive and distend the arc formed When said contacts areopen'ed to W1tnesses:

disrupt it, in combination With acombined circuit-closing member and are guide com prising a clrcuit-closmg blade arranged to *bridge the contacts to close the circuit and an arc guide carried by the blade and actuated upon the circuit-opening movement thereof to maintain the circuit after the said contacts are opened and then to guide the arc across the gap between the arc-dis rupting horns and transfer it thereto; substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature, in presence of two Witnesses.

' AUGUSTUS JESSE BOVVIE, JR.

FRANK ADAMS, E. F. GRIFFITH. 

